The present invention relates to a camera exterior part comprising an exterior member made of a metal and an inner frame member made of a resin, the inner frame member being arranged on the inner surface of the exterior member, a manufacturing method thereof; and a camera having an exterior member made of a conductive material such as a metal, and more particularly to a camera in which electric noises can be supplied to a ground pattern of an electric circuit, the noises coming from the outside through the internal mechanism of the camera; and a camera with a lens barrier which is movably arranged on the front surface of a camera body case and functions as a cover of a photographic lens.
Recently, some camera exterior parts each constituting a camera are constructed in such a manner that an exterior member of a camera body, for example, a front cover is made of a metal to add a high quality impression to the camera.
The camera exterior part having the above exterior member made of a metal is manufactured as follows: A front mold member, which serves as an inner frame member and is made of a resin; is attached to the inner surface of a front cover of the camera exterior part by adhesion, and a device arranged in the camera or a rear cover of the exterior member is attached to the front mold member. The front cover is formed using a press work technique. The front mold member is formed using a resin by an injection molding technique.
Recently some cameras are constructed in such a manner that a camera body is covered with an exterior member made of a metal in order to give the impression that the camera has a good appearance and makes a high grade impression on the users. In the case of using a metal as the exterior member, in order to prevent a short circuit between the exterior member and circuit parts or a circuit pattern arranged on a flexible board of the camera body, a part or the whole of the inner surface of the exterior member is subjected to an insulating process or an insulating sheet is adhered to the inner surface thereof.
For the above-mentioned cameras, since the exterior member has conductivity, the camera is charged (or discharged) due to static electricity. In addition, the exterior member functions as an antenna, so that the camera is apt to pick up noises from surroundings. In some cases, the noises cause a current, resulting in adverse effects on electric parts in the camera. Therefore, the exterior member is electrically connected to a ground pattern of an electric circuit of the camera so that the potential of the exterior member is reduced to a ground potential. If the camera picks up noises, a generated current flows through the ground pattern. Thus, the electric parts can be protected.
As a grounding method, for example, one end of a piece of elastic metal is fixed by a screw or the like to a camera body together with a lead wire. The lead wire is connected to the ground pattern of the electric circuit of the camera by soldering. When the exterior member is attached to the camera body, the other end of the metal piece comes into contact with the exposed inner metal surface of the exterior member while being pressed against the surface, thus resulting in an electrical connection.
According to another method, a part of the inner metal surface of the exterior member is exposed and processed such that the exposed portion is partially superimposed on the ground pattern of a printed board of the camera body when the exterior member is attached to the camera body. Upon attachment, the superimposed portion and pattern are tightly fixed using screws, thus grounding the exterior member.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-15054 discloses a technique of realizing electrical connection between an exterior member and a contact on the negative electrode of a battery through a fixing member.
In conventional general cameras, a photographic lens, a finder, and various measurement windows are arranged on the front surface of each camera body. A lens barrier is freely slidably disposed on the front surface of a camera body case. The lens barrier covers the photographic lens, the finder, and the various measurement windows to protect them. Upon photographing, the lens barrier is slid open, thus exposing the photographing lens, the finder, and the measurement windows.
As a camera with a lens barrier as mentioned above, for example, as shown in FIGS. 37 and 38, a lens barrier 1 molded using a resin is generally used. In the lens barrier 1 made of resin, almost semicylindrical guide rails 1a are formed in two portions on each of the surfaces of each of the ends of the lens barrier 1. The guide rails 1a protrude on the surfaces of each end at a predetermined distance from each other. The guide rails 1a are freely movably attached to a pair of guides 2a provided for a front mold member 2, which is made of a resin and constitutes a camera body case. Thus, the lens barrier 1 can be stably guided without being influenced by parallelism between the guides 2a and the ends of the lens barrier 1.
Recently some cameras include a metallic exterior serving as the exterior of a camera body case in order to present a high quality impression. For the cameras using such a metal plate, when a barrier-attached camera is formed, it is desired that the lens barrier 1, freely slidably arranged on the front surface of the camera body case, is also formed using a metal plate.
For conventional barrier-attached cameras, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-255839 discloses a camera having the following structure: When a lens barrel is projected, a barrier for protecting a lens is locked through a retaining lever at an open position at the front of a lens in order to prevent the interference between the lens barrel and the barrier. In this camera, the distal end portion of the retaining lever can be in contact with a part of a movable frame of the lens barrel when the lens barrel is projected (projected mode) or while the lens barrel is being projected.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-294991 discloses a barrier-attached camera. In this barrier-attached camera, a barrier includes a locking mechanism for protecting a lens barrel. The locking mechanism includes a locking member, a contact member, a gear transmission member, and the like. In this camera, in a state in which the lens barrel is located at a projected position where it is possible to photograph, when the barrier is moved in the closing direction, the distal end of the contact member slightly comes into contact with the lens barrel and the locking member comes into contact with a protrusion on a camera body. The locking member is in contact with the camera body, thus protecting the lens barrel against the operating force applied to the barrier.